Customers of different industries place a different value on the elements that generate their overall experience. A pharmacy Customer may prioritize product availability, safety and compliance, whereas high-end retail shoppers prioritize quality and choice. (Data source Gartner) Others may prioritize convenience, design, simplicity, and usability. We all have different needs and perceive similar details in different ways. But we all depend on order management, logistics, and supply chains to get products and services to us. Even your virtual world also needs some kind of Supply chain to be accessible to you and your organization. The truth is, depending on the sector, you maybe have a very diverse portfolio of customers. Supply chain maturity models can often illustrate that organizations are already trying to improve customer experience in the supply chain through continuous adaptation. The path forward is fraught with so many uncertainties that, to ensure business continuity, we are all doing a better job of planning and executing transformation to a digital space.
According to IDC prediction, in 2025, almost 49% of the world will hold its data in cloud environments. Many companies already understand where they need to have a presence. However, even with a great digital or in-person experience, the experience doesn’t end the moment the customer clicks the final confirmation button. From the customer’s perspective, there is now a waiting time, and the experience management continues here for the company. What happens between this last click and the time a digital or physical product or service is delivered requires procurement, logistics, supply chains, and sometimes freight forwarding. It also involves a great deal of experience management. Since we’ve been assisting with a project that deals specifically with the customer experience between a purchase order and the journey to the customer, we decided to talk about this topic.
A supply chain is the backbone of a company’s daily existence. It has a major impact on customer experience, even though it often goes unnoticed by the end consumer. #customerexperience #supplychain #experiencedesign #procurement #CX… Click To Tweet
We are living in a time where supply chains had to quickly adapt to work more efficiently in order to satisfy the demands of customers, especially those demands related to staying safe at home and to getting green products from fair sources. Many companies found themselves obliged to transform because of this. Consumers need almost immediate delivery, and in my experience, only Amazon, Alibaba, and Zalando are really up to the task.
COVID-19 brought the spotlight back on operations management and supply chain experience management. In fact, a new report from the Capgemini Research Institute has found that 66% of consumer product companies and retailers believe their supply chain strategy will evolve significantly in the next three years. With the current changes everyone is going through, this comes as no surprise. In all reality, three years means forever, since we are all evolving — customer needs included. Companies that listen to customer feedback and criticism will keep growing, listening, reflecting, acting, and transforming to continuously adapt.
According to the report, only 28% of retailers believe their supply chain is flexible and prepared to support actual challenges. This low percentage also means that data insights and forecasts for supply chains become a major challenge for organizations that are inaccurately assessing the needs of their customers.
Here are the ways organizations can improve their supply chain and procurement experiences:
Around 68% of companies in the Capgemini report mentioned that they faced challenges in demand planning due to a lack of accurate insights about customer needs and demand during the pandemic.
